Ellerstina Etiqueta Negra clobbers Alegria Crowne Plaza in Argentina Open Polo Championships: Match Analysis
The fixture of the 118th Argentina Open Polo Championship, played at the Cathedral of Polo (Campo Argentino de Polo), in Buenos Aires, Argentina, turned out to be more thrilling than was anticipated.
Both, Ellerstina Etiqueta Negra and Alegria Crowne Plaza battled vigorously, but the former emerged triumphant over the latter by 20-17, after the eight-chukka of play.
In an outstanding move, Facundo Pieres earned a head start for Ellerstina while his teammate, Nico Pieres, accompanied him with a field goal.
Francisco Bensadon finally put his team on the scoreboard, concluding the first period with Alegria trailing by a single goal, 2-1.
The two foursomes struck two goals each in the second set of play, taking the score to 4-3.
Bensadon hit a couple of goals for Alegria while Facundo Pieres was the point-scorer for Ellerstina. Ellerstina was still enjoying a single-goal edge after the two chukkas of play.
In the third round, Facundo Pieres and Gonzalito Pieres notched two and one goal, respectively for Ellerstina. From the other side, Francisco de Narvaez accounted for a brace of goals.
Ellerstina managed to expand the lead up to two goals, concluding the period with a score of 7-5.
Alegria sped up its offence in the fourth frame, reducing the lead once again down to a single point. It scored three goals against the two of their rivals.
A couple of goals from de Narvaez and a single notch from Bensadon served Alegria to remain in the game.
Nachi Heguy and Nico Pieres were the point scoring players from Ellerstina. After the first half of play, Ellerstina was enjoying a single-goal edge, 9-8.
Ellerstina extended its lead again in the fifth chukka by acquiring two back to back goals from Gonzalito Pieres. De Narvaez managed the only goal of the period for Alegria.
The duo battled aggressively in the sixth round, exchanging three goals in the seven and a half minutes of play.
Facundo notched two goals while Nico Pieres joined him with a single penalty shot. The troika of Freddie Mannix, Mariano Aguerre and de Narvaez registered three goals, closing the period with Alegria sitting behind at 14-12.
In an unexpected move, Alegria equally scored three goals against the three of Ellerstina in the second last frame.
This time the troika of Nico, Facundo and Gonzalito worked for Ellerstina while Mannix, de Narvaez and Aguerre lit the lamp for Alegria.
Both, Ellerstina and Alegria, moved into the final action holding a 17-15 score. The final action began at a similar pace, with both teams accomplishing attacks against each other.
Ellerstina outplayed Alegria in the concluding period with a 3-2 score. Facundo Pieres was at his best, hitting all three notches.
Mannix marked two goals for Alegria but they were not enough to protect them from the maiden defeat.
Among the top scorers, Facundo Pieres was number one, with eleven wonderful goals, while Nico Pieres and Gonzalito Pieres marked four goals each. Nachi Heguy faced only one moment of joy by scoring only a single goal.
From the other side, Narvaez was the highest scorer with seven notches while Bensadon, Mannix and Aguerre registered four, four and two goals, respectively, in the loss.
Defending champions, Ellerstina won the match against Alegria by 20-17.
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